Fighting the Ghost
by Enjeru-chan
Summary: Epps is out of the hospital and back home. Her thoughts are driven towards her lost crew mates, and everything that happened aboard the "Ghost Ship". After seeing them alive, she starts to wonder..


Film: Ghost Ship Chapter One Rating: PG13 - R violence, and language AN: Gnar, I couldn't stay away from it. The movie struck me, and the way it ended made me want to write a fic. You understand where I'm coming from, right? =3 Well, anyways, the story starts sometime after the ending Epps just getting out of the hospital.  
  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  
  
Chapter One: Memories  
  
Epps ran her hand over the locket, a sigh escaping her lips. She was gazing out the window into the harbor from her room, the sea was calm today, and fish boats where bringing in their catches. "Will I ever return to the sea~?" She whispered softly to the windowpane, finally pressing her hand up against the cool glass.  
  
Below her, men were carrying nets, and buckets, fish flopping uncontrollably within them. Others were loading and unloading ship's cargo, the gulls hovering above them, curious if they'd get a meal from all this.  
  
She closed her eyes, her mind drifting elsewhere, remembering that horrid week when her and her crew were trapped upon damned boat. Seeing them dead, experiencing the heart-wrenching trauma. Finally, her thoughts shooting to a few days ago, her crew was alive; But that man, Ferriman, was with them alive and well also. The way he had looked at her before she was taken off to the hospital was a look that haunted her, if only she could find him, both him and her "crew".  
  
Epps sighed again, her hand sliding away from the window, her gaze slowly drifting from the hustle and bustle of fishermen.  
  
"Maureen?" Came a kind and gentle voice from the doorway. There a woman in about her 50s stood, she had short dark hair, and brown eyes, much like Epps'.  
  
"Morning, mother." Epps smiled as she looked back at her. Ever since the accident, her mother had insisted that she move in with her, and take care of her until she was healthy again. It gave her someone to talk to at least. Without her men, she was lost truthfully.  
  
"How are you feeling this morning, dear?" She asked as she came forward into the room, bending over to tidy a few things up that has been thrown askew.  
  
"Better." She smiled a little. She really didn't feel she could smile full throttle just yet. It was almost impossible, her thoughts still lying heavy with awful memories.  
  
"That's good." She beamed. "Breakfast is almost ready. Why don't you wash up and come down in a bit, hm?" Her voice was bright and cheery. She was trying to make her daughter smile at least a little more than she had seen her doing.  
  
Epps nodded her head slightly, and turned her attention back out to the harbor.  
  
"Well, alright. I'll expect to see you in a few minutes." Mrs. Epps wasn't the kind to baby a grown woman. If she wanted to come down, she would, if not, she'd save her breakfast for later when she was ready. She then nodded her head and turned, walking back out leaving the door open a tad.  
  
Epps watched the horizon a little more before rising from her bed, putting her bare feet on the cold wooden floor of the harbor house. She adjusted pajamas a tad before making her way out of the room, walking with just a slight limp, sliding carefully down the staircase and into the kitchen.  
  
Her mother was busy arranging the food on the table as she looked up and noticed her daughter. "Ah, good." She smiled once again. "You did decide to come down."  
  
Epps returned a small smile and positioned herself at the table, as her mother served her. Her mind was still far away from where she was, she wanted to talk to her mother so bad, but to say she saw her crew members alive, well, that would be a hard story to swallow, much less get across. "Mo." she started.  
  
Mrs. Epps looked to her daughter before seating herself as well, "Yes, dear?" She replied, looking curious, this was one of the first time her daughter had tried to make a conversation move in a week.  
  
She shook her head, searching for the words. "Would you believe me if I told you I saw my crew~?" She questioned, her eyes drifting downward to her plate.  
  
"As in a dream?" She blinked. "Of course I would. You miss them a lot. I know."  
  
"No. I mean I actually saw them." She continued.  
  
Mrs. Epps blinked again, craning her head to the side with a slight shake, "What?"  
  
"My crew, they're alive~"  
  
Mrs. Epps stared in disbelief. Obviously her daughter had been hallucinating, she had just survived a traumatizing experience, so there was that chance. "Honey~" She started.  
  
"NO! I know what I saw! Don't tell me otherwise!" Epps started to fume. How dare her mother try to tell her that she had not seen what she saw with her own eyes! If only she could have been there! She would have known, could have seen. But she wasn't, so she didn't have the right to prove her wrong.  
  
Mrs. Epps shook her head and gazed downwards into her own plate. She let her daughter have it, if she wanted to believe she saw her crew, she wouldn't argue. She'd just let it pass for the time being; maybe her daughter would come to the light that her crew was in fact dead.  
  
She growled slightly, shoving her fork into her eggs and eating them. She was not going to tell her wrong, never. That was for when she was a little girl, but she was a grown woman now. And she knew what she saw, and she was going to prove she saw it. She was going to find them, if they weren't dead already again.  
  
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  
  
AN: That is the end of chapter one. Not much action, just a lot of the character's feelings and stuff. Yes, I stuck a random char in just to get it moving, I know it wasn't mentioned in the movie or not if her parents where alive or dead, so I put her mother in it. Anyways, what would you want her talking to? Air? O_o 


End file.
